In this issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Fernandez et al1 investigate the role of maternal night shift work in occurrence of urogenital anomalies in offspring. The authors inferred potential exposure to night shift work by applying a job-exposure matrix (JEM)2 to mothers' recorded occupations in the Australian Perinatal Registry. This study's assessment of night shift work across various occupations, with nurses reported separately from other types of workers, adds valuable knowledge on a rarely studied outcome. The authors acknowledge that the lack of individual-level information on shift schedules precluded their ability to assess differences in duration and/or intensity of night shift work, which may variably interfere with reproductive function and recommend 'investigation in a sample with more detailed exposure information'.
展开▼
